Some people like math and numbers, and some don’t. Numbers, however, can tell a story of what an organization values and accomplishes. They can reveal the scope, effectiveness, and vision of a charitable organization like Alongside Hope (formerly called PWRDF).

Magnitude of Alongside Hope Ministry

Statistics of Alongside Hope’s work listed in its 2024-2025 annual report reveal the extent of the organization’s work. In that fiscal year, Alongside Hope

• worked with partners in 30 countries internationally and in Canada on 53 projects

• improved the lives of 288,292 direct participants through training and by providing access to resources such as clean water

Number of Direct Participants

Direct participants who benefited from Alongside Hope partnerships included:

• 342 Indigenous midwives in Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador were supported to improve health service delivery and reduce maternal mortality

• 593 adolescents in Zambia attended weekly group meetings focused on safe sexual behaviours, alcohol and drug abuse, and children’s rights

• 5,015 families in Cuba received training to increase their resilience to natural disasters

• 18,205 patients have been treated at Gaza’s Al Ahli Hospital since the beginning of the current conflict

• The Ecclesiastical province of BC/Yukon received a $50,000 grant to respond to wildfire emergencies

Effectiveness of Programs

While the sheer number of participants is impressive, the 2024 report for Charity Intelligence Canada also cites the effectiveness of individual programs.

• programmes in Guatemala resulted in improved food security for 375 Tzeltal Indigenous families, with half of the families achieving self-sufficiency in producing grain, vegetables, and fruit

• the Goat Seed project in East Africa improved the retention rate of community health workers to 97%

Doubling Alongside Hope’s Fundraising Efforts

Alongside Hope has long had ways of doubling donations, often through an anonymous donor. Two recent examples are matching of donations up to $250,000 for the Resilience Fund (in light of substantive USAID cuts) until June 30, 2025, and matching of donations up to $150,000 for the recent Solar Suitcase project until October 31, 2025.

Doubling Your Tax credits: Two Tax Advantages for One Gift

Alongside Hope also welcomes legacy gifts and reminds donors of two tax advantages when they donate stocks or mutual funds: first, you don’t pay taxes on the capital gains, plus, you receive a charitable receipt. For further information, contact planned.giving@alongsidehope.org.

The Power of One

Big numbers in and of themselves don’t necessarily change the world for the better. Contributions by a single individual can also make a significant difference: e.g., the two paintings by Bishop John Watton of Central Newfoundland, for this year’s Alongside Hope Christmas cards. It Happened in Bethlehem represents light and hope, but also the violence that pushes grace into the shadows, while Winter Light recalls the beauty of farming in Central Newfoundland. And if the postal workers’ strike is over by the time you read this, there will still be time to send these cards to family and friends.

The post Do Numbers Matter? appeared first on Anglican Life.

However, massive cuts to international aid by USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and several European governments are having devastating impacts on aid organizations worldwide, including Alongside Hope’s collaboration with local partners such as EHALE, a community health organization in Mozambique.

The sudden cuts from USAID are disproportionately affecting people who are already at risk: children and youth living with HIV/AIDS, refugees who no longer see a durable solution, and those experiencing extreme hunger who depend on food and other humanitarian aid.

To maintain as many vital programmes as possible, Alongside Hope is launching an urgent appeal to donors. Your support of the Resilience Fund will allow Alongside Hope to provide partners with additional support for refugees, HIV-related needs, and women recovering from gender-based violence.

These include:

Tanzania

• Families supported by Church World Service who were preparing for a new life in the United States and had already left the Nyarugushu Refugee camp and given away their possessions were forced to return to the camp with nothing, their dreams of resettlement shattered with the suspension of the US Refugee Resettlement Program.

Kenya

• Anglican Development Services in Kenya was forced to quickly scale back school food programs, anti-retrovirals and other wraparound care for children and youth living with HIV/AIDS. The futures of more than 160 case workers are now uncertain

• many children are no longer able to attend school.

• 42 staff at National Council of Churches Kenya who were providing youth mentorship programming and support for school fees have been laid off, affecting 8,000 youth and 8,000 orphans and vulnerable children.

Mozambique

A five-year program with partner EHALE that was improving maternal health services and access to health care for young mothers was forced to shut down.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Plans for a program with the Panzi Foundation that would have brought dignity to women recovering from gender-based violence have been shelved.

Haiti

• Medical services and referrals for community members working with Rayjon Share Care are not being provided due to cuts to hospitals that had been receiving USAID supplies.

How you can help:

• Please pray for our neighbours all over the world whose livelihoods and futures have been made uncertain.

• Contact your Member of Parliament and advocate for increased aid funding.

• Give to Alongside Hope as we respond to increased hunger and needs around the world. You can donate online at alongsidehope.org/give-today or call 1-866-308-7973, or mail your cheque to: Alongside Hope, 80 Hayden Street, 3rd floor, Toronto, Ont., M4Y 3G2

For more information:

https://alongsidehope.org/news/cuts-to-international-aid-highlight-the-need-to-keep-up-our-support/

The post Alongside Hope Launches “Resilience Fund” to Counter USAID Cuts appeared first on Anglican Life.

As Anglicans, we refer to the head of the Canadian Anglican Communion as a Primate, but for many others a primate is a being in the wilds or a zoo. Even recently, the PWRDF office in Toronto received a letter saying, “If you are having difficulty locating primates, why not broaden your search category to include orangutans?”

And do the words “World Relief and Development” truly reflect how PWRDF works with others? Do we in North America have the answers to problems in the rest of the world?  Is PWRDF only for others, or also for Canadians? We need to ask: Who is doing what for whom? And, is it for, or with?

As PWRDF Board Member, The Rev’d Cynthia Haines Turner wrote in last month’s Anglican Life, “when you spend more time explaining the name than you do speaking about what you do, it’s time to change it.” It was obvious that PWRDF needed a name that is easy to say and understand, and that expresses the way it actually works.   

A Task Team established by the PWRDF Board to choose a more representative name concluded that the name needed to say that PWRDF works together with agencies around the world in the hope of creating “a truly just, healthy, and peaceful world.”  The two most significant terms that emerged from these discussions were “alongside” and “hope.”

These terms may be easiest to remember, if we consider their scriptural basis. “Alongside” emerged from reflections on how Jesus walked alongside two disciples on the road to Emmaus, disciples who recognized him when he broke bread and blessed it. And “hope,” was chosen because it reflects who we are called to be: a people of hope. As our baptismal covenant states: “There is one body and one Spirit. There is one hope in God’s call to us. One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (from Ephesians 4:4-5).

The name has changed, but the ministry has not. Our new name, Alongside Hope, reminds us that we are Anglicans and partners working together for change in Canada and around the world as we express our love for God and our neighbours.

With thanks to The Rev’d Cynthia Haines Turner,
submitted by Doreen Helen Klassen

The post PWRDF Becomes Alongside Hope appeared first on Anglican Life.

“Praying with PWRDF” is a one-hour monthly opportunity to gather online with others to become better informed and pray for the work of PWRDF. Each Zoom gathering features a land acknowledgement, prayers, scripture readings, music, reflections from PWRDF partners, volunteers, or clergy, with opportunity for discussion. These sessions are particularly valuable for learning about the issues we need to consider “as we journey towards a truly just, healthy, and peaceful world.”

Recent presentations include one in December 2023 by Dr. Rachel Mash of Cape Town, South Africa, the environmental coordinator of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, a movement known as Green Anglicans. One of Rachel’s concerns is about access to clean water, as its absence leads to high infant mortality rates and a higher incidence of water-borne diseases.

In her presentation, Rachel asks if high rates of child mortality will ever be a thing of the past; if inequality in life expectancy will always be based on income; if people everywhere will ever be able to build their own houses, plant their own gardens, and live in peace. She sees hope in events like Cop 28 as indigenous voices, people of faith, young climate activists, and principled business people gather to work for environmental and climate justice.

Another presenter, Robyn Sulkko, a member of the PWRDF Youth Council and People’s Warden in her parish in Ottawa, served as the reflector in September 2024. In May 2023, during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she and her fellow pilgrims renewed their baptismal covenant at the Jordan River in Palestine. Although it was a place of renewal for her, seeing young armed Israeli soldiers beside the river, led her to greater awareness of the strife and violence occurring there. She returned home with a greater resolve to facilitate discussion between indigenous and settler youth and their mentors.

A third recent reflector was Canon Tom Mugford, a licensed lay minister in the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, and a beneficiary of the Labrador Inuit claims agreement, who works with the Department of Education as Program Development Specialist for Indigenous Education. His presentation focused on what he had learned in several workshops on the importance of effective communication.

You can hear more about how people like Rachel, Robyn, and Tom are working for a just, healthy, and peaceful world on “Praying with PWRDF” Zoom sessions at 1 p.m. ET (2:30 pm NT) on the second Thursday of every month. The next two “Praying with PWRDF” worship sessions will be held November 7 and December 12. You can join these meetings by registering in advance at:  https://pwrdf.org/get-involved/pwrdf-at-home/

The post Praying With PWRDF appeared first on Anglican Life.

As they planned for longer-term support in the region, the Diocese of Jerusalem wrote a proposal for a new six-month project, scheduled to run from February 1st, 2024, to July 31st, 2024. This project was designed in consultation with Anglican Alliance, a partnership of Anglican humanitarian and development agencies, including the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF).

According to former PWRDF Communications and Marketing Officer Jacqueline Tucci, “Eight agencies from five countries (Australia, New Zealand, UK, USA, and Canada), collaborated in support of this proposal. This relieves the Diocese of Jerusalem of needing to provide individual proposals and reports to each funding agency” at an already challenging time.

Key objectives of the project include support for:

• quality inpatient and outpatient health services at the Diocese of Jerusalem Health Institutions in the West Bank for the most vulnerable people directly affected

• quality education at the Diocese of Jerusalem Education Institutions in the West Bank, especially for children

• medical interventions (inpatient and outpatient) at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital for the wounded and traumatized in Gaza

The Diocese of Jerusalem Institutions that will benefit from this project include:  Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, Saint Luke’s Hospital in Nablus, and Penmen Clinic in Jenin (Zababdeh village). Also benefitting are students at Christian National Kindergarten in Nablus and Saint George’s School in East Jerusalem. This joint initiative will directly support 2,608 people, and benefit an additional 14,512 indirectly: 17,120 in total.

PWRDF’s Humanitarian Response Coordinator, Naba Gurung, says that whatever the cause of a disaster, the goal is always to save lives and to reduce suffering of the most vulnerable. That becomes complicated when there are warring factions, so aid agencies like PWRDF need to communicate with local partners as situations change, and be flexible and adaptable. Last week’s plan often doesn’t work this week. However, aid agencies may ultimately have to help broker peace, or at least, accommodation, before they can deliver aid. PWRDF has offices only in Toronto, so it is often the sacrifices and commitment of local partners that make a crucial difference.

How you can help: Please keep the people affected by the war in your prayers. You can donate to PWRDF’s Gaza and West Bank Emergency Appeal online (https://pwrdf.org/give-today/), by phone at 416-822-9083 (or leave a message toll-free at 1-866-308-7973 for PWRDF staff to call you), or by mail. Send your cheque to PWRDF, 80 Hayden Street, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON, Canada, M4Y 3G2. Please indicate “Gaza” in the memo field.

The post Gaza and West Bank appeared first on Anglican Life.

“In recent years, Canada has experienced an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters. Wildfires, hurricanes, and floods have affected thousands of families and individuals. In response to unprecedented wildfires from coast to coast, PWRDF launched a separate fund for in-Canada emergency response in 2023. This fund will allow PWRDF to respond quickly when a diocese asks for support, rather than wait to raise funds for individual disasters.” 

Dioceses can request short-, medium- and longer- term support depending on their specific needs, including:

• emergency accommodations

• gift cards to purchase food, water, clothing, and other essentials

• emergency services such as washrooms, generators, or charging stations

• counselling and post-trauma supports 

• locally identified long-term recovery activities to help rebuild community assets and increase community resilience

One Canadian diocese that benefitted from the In-Canada Emergency Response Fund in 2023 was the Diocese of Kootenay in BC.  A grant of $5,000.00 helped cover immediate expenses when 95% of the Okanagan Anglican Camp (OAC) was destroyed during the McDougall Creek wildfire. 

Located just north of Kelowna on the Okanagan Lake, Camp OAC was a valuable community space for over 70 years. It was enjoyed by thousands of campers during the summer, and by those who came for family, school, or community get-togethers during the off-season.

In a letter to the Diocese after the fire in August 2023, Archbishop Lynne McNaughton wrote: “It was daunting to view the scope of the fire. Buildings simply [became] small piles of twisted metal. The wooden dining hall that has stood for 70 years now is a lonely-looking stone fireplace standing by itself. The beautiful “Windsong” where we had community gatherings and joyful dances is gone.”  The staff quarters, residence building, crafts and program building, and the dock were all damaged, while the camp had to be evacuated.

As the fire approached the camp, the Diocese rented vehicles to safely transport and relocate all campers and staff who were onsite. High winds increased the speed of the fire, but everyone got out safely.

This $5,000 PWRDF grant assisted the Diocese in recouping some of those vehicle rental costs, as well as with plans to rebuild the camp. The grant also provided funds to reimburse Kelowna parishes that distributed emergency food to evacuated individuals and families, as well as support for clergy and families evacuated from nearby communities during the fires.

For information on accessing this fund see: https://pwrdf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/in-canada-emerg-singles.pdf

To donate, see https://pwrdf.org/give-today/ or phone 416-822-9083 or 1 (866) 308-7973

Quotations from https://pwrdf.org/our-work-impact/humanitarian-response/ and https://pwrdf.org/pwrdf-supports-the-diocese-of-kootenay-in-aftermath-of-wildfire/

The post PWRDF’s In-Canada Emergency Response appeared first on Anglican Life.

Providing Clean Water—Access to clean water continues to be a significant challenge for many First Nations residents, especially in remote communities. Since 2013, Pimatsiswin Nipi (Living Water) Group has partnered with PWRDF and Pikangikum First Nation to provide safe drinking water and indoor plumbing in Northwestern Ontario, as 400 of approximately 500 homes are without running water. The program has focused on the most vulnerable, such as Elders who have diabetes or require dialysis or special care. It has also trained and employed 18 youth community members to install water and wastewater systems. 

Developing Entrepreneurial Skills—Because Indigenous youth face multiple barriers in competing for funds for entrepreneurial opportunities, Nuu-chaw-nulth Economic Development Corporation (NEDC) in British Columbia initiated an Indigenous Youth Business Strategy Program. In 2019, PWRDF provided one-time seed funding for the project, which offers training opportunities and microloans that enable Indigenous youth to launch viable businesses. The youth have made consistent loan repayments, so investment of interest monies has helped sustain this revolving fund.

Bringing Home Artifacts—The return of ancestral artifacts to their rightful First Nations peoples is an important step in reconciliation. In Nova Scotia, the Mi’kamwey Debert Cultural Centre (MDCC) has overseen the transfer of a Mi’kmaw collection stored at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Working with knowledge holders and experts, MDCC will now be the repository for the Mi’kmaw Nation’s own cultural materials. The transfer will create economic benefits for the Nation, the region, and Canadian tourism.

Supporting a Harm Reduction Program—1JustCity consists of three drop-in community centres in Winnipeg, Mantoba’s core neighbourhoods. The project fosters wellbeing among Indigenous community members seeking support with healing intergenerational trauma and abuse, and provides direct support to community members living with substance use disorders. The program, implemented by an Elder-in-residence and a Harm Reduction/Outreach Program worker, focuses on individuals experiencing homelessness or without safe/secure housing.

Revising a High School Curriculum—The Gyets (Western) Gitxsan Indian Residential School (IRS) Program in British Columbia assists survivors of Indian Residential Schools, their communities, and families to receive tools to heal and learn. Recognizing the need for new approaches to Indigenous education, PWRDF is supporting the development of a new curriculum that will reconnect local youth to their traditional culture.

Lastly, with guidance from the Indigenous Program Advisory Committee (IPAC), PWRDF launched the Indigenous Responsive Grant Fund in August 2021 to respond quickly to funding needs identified by Indigenous communities and organizations. PWRDF has already approved 13 projects for a total amount of $226,150. Some of these projects have contributed to healing intergenerational trauma, youth suicide prevention, COVID-19 response, Indigenous cultural preservation, traditional environmental protection, and knowledge sharing about Indigenous food and medicinal plants.

For further information see: https://pwrdf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Programs-and-Partnerships-Team-Report.pdf
To contribute to these and other PWRDF programs visit:  pwrdf.org

The post Indigenous Issues appeared first on Anglican Life.

Noticing his plastic bag, I said, “Someone brought that bag from Harare (the capital city), now you’re using it, and will reuse it again and again. We call that idea recycling, and we are just learning how to do that in North America. We have much to learn from you.”

Similarly, many PWRDF projects in the developing world are applying climate change strategies from which we in North America could learn. PWRDF staffer Richard Librock describes these in an article called “Cooling the planet in Zimbabwe,” and demonstrates how PWRDF is working together with TSURO Trust to help Zimbabwean farmers “adapt to climate change and meet their families’ basic needs” in the beautiful Chimanimani highlands. 

Librock explains three strategies that use water to help “cool the planet” and protect it from “higher temperatures, drought and wildfires, storms, floods…[and] hurricanes.”  I invite you to explore these with me.

Sinking Raindrops Where They Fall

Keeping rain where it falls works best with ground cover like grasses, trees, or bushes. When this is not possible, TSURO uses other means to trap water:  digging infiltration pits, building rock walls (rock gabions), or creating contoured retaining walls (stone bunds).

Practising Planned Grazing with Communal Herds

Amalgamating small cattle herds into a large communal herd and practicing planned grazing have also been effective. Planned grazing allows some fields to recover while others are being grazed. But, amalgamated herds also have social and economic benefits: boys, who used to tend small herds, are able to attend school, and women, who used to work as unpaid labour, are able to earn a living from herding, and even own their own livestock.

Keeping Carbon in the Soil

Lastly, Librock shows how effectively managing vegetation can significantly reduce the heat from greenhouse gases. Instead of increasing carbon by letting grass wither and die or burning it during the dry season, he suggests having cattle graze the grass and deposit it as dung, then letting organisms like dung beetles work the carbon back into the soil. This rids the air of excessive carbon while improving the quality of grass for grazing, as it allows roots to grow deeper, traps more water, and extends the growing season for grass.

These three principles can also be successfully implemented in North America. However, what is most amazing about this method of agro-ecology in Zimbabwe, is that it is occurring in a country with decades of corrupt government, and most significantly in a country with a current inflation rate of 480%! If Zimbabweans have the hope and courage to attempt to prevent the negative effects of climate change, can’t we do likewise, or at least support their efforts?

To support this and other Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) projects, go to https://pwrdf.org/give-today/ or donate through your local parish.

For Librock’s more detailed discussion, see https://pwrdf.org/cooling-the-planet-in-zimbabwe/

The post Learning From The Developing World Through PWRDF appeared first on Anglican Life.

The rising price of lettuce had nothing to do with my attempt at vegetable gardening. Instead, it was the stories of women gardeners in African contexts receiving PWRDF support that challenged me to think about how even apartment dwellers could practice sustainable gardening.

The first gardener to come to mind was Josephine Kizza. She had started St. Jude’s, an organic farming project, after she lost her teaching job and all of her possessions during the civil war in Uganda (1985-87). Although internally displaced persons like Josephine can often get staples (such as flour, rice, sugar, and tea) from aid agencies, they know that in order to have a tasty, healthy diet, they need to plant vegetables like greens, onions, and tomatoes.

The solution sounds simple enough: get seeds and access to land, then plant a garden. But, it’s more complicated than that. Josephine says that African women do 60-80% of the agricultural work, but that their traditional foodways also harm the environment. That is, rural African women cut down trees to provide fuel for cooking, and also to make charcoal to provide some cash income. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many urban folks returned to rural areas, so cooking for more people led to even greater deforestation.

Consequently, agricultural educators like Josephine started placing an emphasis on agro-forestry, specifically, on planting trees. But even that had its problems, because men assumed that they owned the land and were the primary decision makers. For example, after a farmer named Amelia planted almost an acre of trees and made ridges to prevent erosion on her property, her husband came home from his job in the city and cut down most of the trees. However, after Josephine and Amelia discussed the rationale for Amelia’s farming methods with Amelia’s husband — who had had other plans for “his” fields — he understood and eventually became the strongest supporter of her new farming methods.

Similarly, Laliya Atondo, a Congolese woman living in a refugee camp in Tanzania, faced her husband’s criticisms when she joined a Church World Service (CWS) project supported by PWRDF. However, after Laliya bought some clothes – including a shirt for her husband – with the money she earned from selling vegetables, he became supportive of her gardening efforts. Laliya was initially afraid to become a lead farmer because she thought leadership was for men, but the training she received through CWS helped her develop the skills and confidence to teach other women about sustainable vegetable growing, integrated pest management, seed selection and storage, nutrition, and gender equity.

 A few lettuce plants on my balcony will not reduce global warming nor feed the world’s hungry, but they will continue to remind me to support the Primate’s World Relief Development Fund as it enables the gardening efforts of women like Josephine, Amelia, and Laliya.

For more information, follow this link:
https://pwrdf.org/climate-change-and-gender/

The post Women Farmers, Sustainable Agriculture, and The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund appeared first on Anglican Life.

When war broke out in Uganda in 1985, school teachers Josephine and her husband John decided to check on their parents in Masaka, which was some three hours from their home in Kampala. Unable to return to Kampala because the bridge to the capital city had been bombed, they returned to Masaka and became farmers out of necessity.

As it was not culturally appropriate for a woman to live in her father-in-law’s household, Josephine persuaded her husband to settle on land John had inherited from his grandfather. Their belongings at that time included a child’s mattress, a small blanket, a saucepan, one plate, one cup, and a small lantern. Josephine says: “We prayed a lot to St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes.”

When the war ended, Josephine and John discovered that all of their possessions in Kampala had been looted, so they again returned to their farm at Masaka. Because their crops weren’t growing well, Josephine asked her father-in-law for some piglets to use their manure as fertilizer, and, to her surprise, he gave her two piglets. When Josephine heard an ad on radio for an organic farming course in 1992, she took the course, where she learned to make compost to further improve crop yields. Excited about the results, Josephine began sharing her new knowledge with others.

One year later, the teacher of the composting course returned to Uganda from England to check on her students. She was so impressed with Josephine’s farming techniques and inspirational hands-on teaching that she paid for Josephine to earn an organic farming degree in England while John remained with their children in Uganda.

Josephine’s farming project has now grown into an agricultural school that draws students from Africa and elsewhere who want to learn about organic farming, environmental management, income generation, etc. In 1997, the school was registered as an NGO called, not surprisingly, St. Jude Family Projects. By 2019, it had already helped 186,000 farmers. 

Since most agriculture in Uganda is done by women, the St. Jude project teaches women (often those affected by HIV and AIDS), children, and youth, but also has garden projects at government schools to provide lunches for poor students. Experience has furthermore taught Josephine and her staff that gender equity means including men in agricultural decision-making processes.

PWRDF’s 2022 World of Gifts lists St Jude’s and 25 other gifts you can choose from this Christmas (and throughout the year) as PWRDF and its partners work to support refugees and internally displaced persons, to improve food security, and to address climate change.
https://pwrdf.org/from-the-ground-up/   with thanks to Janice Biehn, PWRDF Communications & Marketing Coordinator

Shop our World of Gifts

https://pwrdf.org/tuesday/ 

The post Hope For the Future appeared first on Anglican Life.